It's him

Interview, Jan, 1998 by Neil Tennant

NEIL TENNANT: Here we are In your new house in the south of France.

ELTON JOHN: I'm addicted to buying a piece of property, doing it up, and then buying another piece. My mum always wanted me to put my money in bricks and mortar instead of up my nose. But I think we've got enough houses now and I'm going to stop for a bit. I've always liked it down here, even though in Tantrums and Tiaras I said I'd never come back.

NT: Each of your houses has a different style and a different approach. Do you get the most out of them when they're in process, or when they're finished?

EJ: I never go and see them as they're being done.

NT: How do you think your taste as a collector has develop over the years?

EJ: I've always been an accumulator, but I haven't always been collector in the fullest sense. Before I redid the house in Windsor [England] in 1990, it was a whole mishmash of things I bought from all over the world, a bit like a high-class junk store. When I got sober, my taste completely changed. I either like things traditional or really modern, and I don't really like things in between that much.

NT: When did you start getting Interested In modern art?

EJ: I knew nothing about art, actually, until I started collecting it. I began with art nouveau in the early '70s, and when I bought the place in Atlanta about six years ago, I started to buy really contemporary art - I have big high ceilings there, so I was able to get bigger canvases. In Atlanta I started collecting photography in a big way, too. That's when I really started collecting.

NT: How and what kind of photos do you collect?

EJ: I collect all sorts of photographs.

NT: What will happen to the collection?

EJ: Well, England hasn't got a major photography museum.

NT: It's an amazing opportunity to have the money to be able to educate yourself about art.

EJ: Absolutely. The way I've learned about art is by buying it. And reading about it. And looking at it. One of the great things about my friendship with Gianni [Versace] was that wherever we were, he would drag me to museums, to antique shops, he would drag me to churches and historical buildings and houses with great private collections.

NT: Were you here In France when you heard that Gianni had been murdered?

EJ: Yeah. I got a phone call from John Reid, my manager, who also told me about John Lennon's death. And as with Lennon, I just didn't believe it. I could not believe it. Gianni was such a huge part of my life. Two of my best creative friends have been murdered outside their fuckin' houses in America - Gianni and John. Gianni was supposed to be here now - he was supposed to be here at the same time as you guys and you would not have gotten up from the table without having had a stimulating conversation. I loved that about him so much. It's very important for artists to do that. Artists don't really do that together very much, do they? They keep themselves to themselves. But I've reached the stage of my life where learning is so important to me. I go through the past enough when I play my old songs onstage. And I don't mind doing that. But I want to think about the future.

NT: I've always been Intrigued by your neighbors at Windsor: the royal family. How did your acquaintance with them come about? [Editor's note: This Interview was conducted prior to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.]

EJ: My first royal meeting was a dinner with Princess Margaret at a restaurant. A friend of mine, Brian Forbes, took us to dinner with her. It was in Hampstead, and I felt like I didn't know which fork went with what knife, and I was terrified. John Reid and I both went. And then I got invited to dinner at Royal Lodge, Windsor, which is just across the road from my house. I played the piano and did the Highland fling with the Queen Mother, and had a brilliant time. [NT laughs] I've had a few occasions in my life when I've thought, God, I was born on the cow sloughs in Pinner, and here I am in these surroundings.

NT: Didn't you and the queen dance to "Rock Around the Clock"?

EJ: At Prince Andrew's twenty-first birthday party, the music segued from "Hound Dog" to "Rock Around the Clock," and Her Majesty asked us if she could join us, which I thought was amazing. I said, "Of course you can, you're the queen."

NT: HOW do you feel about growing older in the music business?

EJ: I'm still as fascinated with the music business as even I'd love to do an electronic album like Prodigy or Underworld. I really like that sort of music. I love what you do, too, but I don't really understand it very much, and I just think it's dangerous to jump on a bandwagon if you haven't got someone who knows what they're doing. I once did an album of disco songs called Victim of Love, which was leaping on a bandwagon that was already dying. After that I thought, I'm just gonna stick to what I do best.

NT: Have you ever tried playing around with new technology?

EJ: No. I'm so untechnical. My latest album, The Big Picture, is mostly ballads. I'm really a ballad writer.

NT: Yet you've just written much of the music for two stage musicals, Aida and The Lion King; the latter of which started life as a very technical animated film from Disney.